不仅仅是亲爱的山鲁佐德——论伊丽莎白·盖斯凯尔的经典化过程

Not Merely Dear Scheherazade:A Review of the Canonization of Elizabeth Gaskell

英国维多利亚时代(1837—1901)是女性写作繁荣时期,孕育了不少优秀的女作家。在相当长的时间内,关于这一时代女作家的研究一直局限于乔治·爱略特、夏洛蒂·勃朗特等极少数几位经典作家。同时代的女作家伊丽莎白·盖斯凯尔在维多利亚时代即已享有很高的文学声誉,但她在英国文学史中的重要地位却是直到近期才完全确立。在经历一个半世纪多的盛衰沉浮之后,盖斯凯尔以强有力的社会批评家的形象跻身英国文学史,同时也以身兼社会与家庭责任的形象印刻在众人心中。盖斯凯尔研究对于面临诸多道德困惑的当代社会及当代女性都极具启发意义。

Victorian England has been well known for the flowering of women writings and the birth of distinguished women writers in large numbers .Victorian women writer studies , for a long period , were confirmed to a few canonical women writ-ers including George Eliot , Charlotte Bronte and the like .Elizabeth Gaskell had been highly regarded in the Victorian liter-ary world, and yet her great significance to British literature has not been fully confirmed until recent years .After more than one and a half century ’ s hovering between literary fame and obscurity , Gaskell has firmly established herself in British lit-erature as a forceful social commentator , and concomitantly impressed many people with her persistence in undertaking both social and family responsibilities .The Gaskell studies undoubtedly shall provide penetrating insights to both the modern so -ciety and the more liberated modern women that are confronted with moral conundrums .